Is this wrong?

[jdw1991]

So I regularly see my neighbours getting visits from someone who drops shopping off. The person who drops the shopping off keeps a safe distance, doesn't enter the household but stays outside of the garden to chat. Is this allowed? I've heard so many different opinions on it but I'm not so sure!!

The thing is OP why would you even think they're wrong?
Talking is not banned.
What rules could they possibly be breaking?

At times like this is more important than ever to use common sense and do some risk assessment for yourself.

I'm glad of this thread. I haven't seen a similar one. I get my dad's shopping, invariably he forgets and needs bread faster than he'd thought, or something had a short shelf life.

I see him about 3 times a week, I'll bring him something from my freezer to save a trip to the shop. He has a massive garden, much bigger than ours, so my 4 year old takes her exercise and has a wee play in the garden, on the swing etc while we chat about 5m apart.

I'm thankful for this weather, we couldn't do it in the rain. We lost my mum 3 years ago and he's normally very active, outgoing, good at going out. The isolation has compounded his grief and my heart breaks for him.

He doesn't see anyone else because one brother is isolating because his wife deals with covid patients as a nurse. My other brother is shielding his immune compromised wife.

I walk and run to exercise around my house, and don't only go out once a day for anything, I don't shop and see my dad on the same day, I shop, leave his groceries in the car, and take them to him the following day.

DD knows to stay 2m away from her grandad, I told her it's the length of our settee and we have practiced a lot in the house. I'd love to see dad every day, but I want to stay at home and not make unnecessary journeys, he's 10 mins in the car from me.

It's a meeting of 2 people, 5m apart, on private property, and one little person in the corner of the garden making a school for her doll, or looking for bugs, but I still feel guilty.

For example I did t think you could drive to your parents home and then go for a walk.

Is that aimed at me louise.

You can drive to walk and parking on our drive is no different to parking in a car park. I've explained before, but my daughter does it because she lives in a city centre which is quite busy and difficult to avoid people. We live on the very edge of the same city and it is much quieter with some wide country lanes and wooded areas. It's a 5 minute drive.

Why do you even care OP???

Just use your common sense: is it causing any harm? No. So why care if it is «allowed»???

Wouldn't it be safer to tell people to walk round their estate a few times rather than people drive to the same place?

Because some people live in densely populated places and five minutes takes them to a quieter spot so easier to do social distancing.
Because some people have small children with no road sense and live by busy roads.
Because some people live on a hill and can’t manage this.
Because some people don’t live on an estate
Because some people use a motability scooter and pavements are not wide enough.
Because less than two miles away there are a host of deserted footpaths and quiet beautiful countryside as opposed to a busy road.

It's fine! I've taken shopping to my sister who is isolating for 12weeks as she has cancer. I drop the shopping on her doorstep then move away to the other side of the gate for a quick chat. I can't understand why you think this is not ok?

Yes it's fine as they are social distancing. There must be a reason the person needs shopping dropped off. If you think about it, it's probably safer for one person to do shopping for say 4 households and drop it off and social distance as it limits the amount of people in the supermarkets

Yes it's fine. They're not putting each other at risk. I passed a few houses doing just that yesterday. Good for them. I had to cross the road a few times to maintain 2 metres distance, but I'm happy to have a little inconvenience if it's improving someone else's day.

I do it a few times a week for my in laws. They would have went out every single morning before this. Papers, Tesco, walk, bookies - same routine. Obviously that's out the window now, so I drop the papers in and their messages. They're in their late 70s, have mild but still underlying health conditions, they play everything down from home maintenance to illness so I leave stuff at their door, they open the door, we have a very brief chat, I take any orders for the next visit, tell them that the grandkids miss them, pass over drawings my youngest has done and that's us all happy for a bit.

My sister does this for my parents. They live rurally and can chat keeping way more than the distance required.

It helps her assess their mental state. Neither of them would tell her they are struggling but she can glean how they are doing from how they interact with her and each other. She can then get other support for them if they need it.

Like everything else, people seem to think that misery is the only thing to do. I saw someone suggest we should call it physical distancing, not social distancing. People are allowed to speak to each other.